Member

Let us know if you can successfully have this posted on policelink.com. I'd like to wee it with my own eyes.

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Me too. Sadly I think that a lot of people will just interpret that as "cop bashing".

Personally I see it as a call to police to take a look at themselves and make sure that they always act with the integrity that we the people expect of them. Those that do will always have my utmost respect. Those that don't, not so much.

Well-Known Member

Lots of good information in that letter for sure. What I have read from LEO's comments on a few officer web sites is that they don't care. And will not care. They are blinded by their power. And they are backed by alot of the corrupt laws that are made by alot of our corrupt government. I have tried to speak with them on their web sites, but they would rather delete what I post or denounce me as a LEO hater instead of looking at their selves for the truth. I have seen and heard of them do it to other people too. That letter is good but it will not help because they do not want to be helped. They will if need be take away all of our guns and leave us to our own doom. The LEO's motto of today is something like... (I and fellow officers are going home tonight. Let the citizens and the bad guys perish. But make sure the Leo survives at all cost.) Protect and Serve is history for the most part. Well for the citizens anyways. Yeah the LEO's will come and help us citizens if needed but if they have a choice in taking away the citizens rights to own firearms to save a cops life?.. They would probably disarm all of us, leaving us all defenseless. Research, ask them and see for yourself. Its a shame!

A former high-ranking member of the New Orleans Police Department entered a guilty plea Wednesday after federal prosecutors charged he worked to deliberately interfere with the Danziger Bridge investigation and to cover-up possible misconduct by officers.

Details of the case are laid out in documents that allege a conspiracy among several officers to drastically change the facts surrounding the incident.

The information is contained in what is called a bill of information -- something that serves much like an indictment and is produced by prosecutors building a criminal case.

PDF: Bill Of Information

The document was released on the same day former Lt. Michael Lohman pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiring to obstruct justice. Lohman is the first officer convicted in connection with the bridge incident.

Moments after he left the courthouse, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten discussed the case and asserted it centered on an "elaborate, ongoing conspiracy to cover up the circumstances of the shooting."

The bill of information states that Lohman responded after the fact to the scene of a multiple-victim shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days following Hurricane Katrina. Two people were killed and four wounded by gunfire involving a group of New Orleans officers who would later be known as the "Danziger 7."

Prosecutors concluded that Lohman believed the shooting had been legally unjustified.

According to the documentation: "Defendant Lohman also talked to some of the officers and sergeants involved in the shooting and learned that they planned to provide false stories about what had precipitated the shooting. Defendant Lohman tacitly encouraged them to do so."

The purpose, according to prosecutors, was to concoct a unified story that indicated the officers discharged their weapons only as a defensive response.

"It was also part of the plan and purpose of the conspiracy that defendant Lohman would assist his co-conspirators, including the investigator and the sergeants involved in the shooting, in developing and articulating false stories that would make it appear as if the civilians that were shot on the bridge had fired first at officers and that the officers had been justified in shooting the civilians," the document reads.

The bill of information added that Lohman "conspired and agreed with other NOPD officers and supervisors" to falsify documents with "intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation."

Prosecutors charged that Lohman worked to hinder the investigation by interfering in communication about what really happened.

"It was the plan and purpose of the conspiracy of the defendant Michael Lohman and his co-conspirators would provide false and misleading information about the Sept. 4, 2005 shooting on the Danziger Bridge and would cover up other information in order to ensure that the shootings would be legally justified and that the officers involved would be shielded from prosecution."

Letten indicated there could be additional charges in the future.

"Know this," he told reporters, "the investigation continues. It is ongoing."

Sources told the WDSU I-Team on Tuesday that Lohman would enter a guilty plea in federal court sometime Wednesday. The plea became official Wednesday afternoon.

Plea Could Affect Other Federal Investigations

The Danziger case is just one of several cases being investigated by the federal government.

Wednesday night, WDSU talked with the experts about what affect Wednesday's plea could have on those cases.

"Frequently, we'll say, the first people on the train get the best seats," said former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg. "The last people on invariably get the worst seats and don't get the benefit of working out favorable deals and minimizing jail time."

Rosenberg said Lohman's guilty plea in the Danziger Bridge case is monumental when it comes to other federal investigations into the NOPD -- cases like the burned body found in a car in Algiers and the deadly police shooting of 22-year-old Adolph Grimes on New Years Day 2009.

"Now that we've seen a crack, some of those individuals are going to have to question whether they should jump and start cooperating with the government," said Rosenberg.

Gary Bizal agreed.

"I think if they did this type of investigation and spent the money, they can certainly find other incidences of wrongdoing," he said.

Bizal, the attorney for one of the six people shot on the Danziger Bridge says that the federal government will be emboldened to dig deeper.

"The investigation by the civil rights division and Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI has expanded," Bizal said. "It has gone horizontally much, much wider than just the Danziger Bridge case."

Attorney Frank DeSalvo, who represents law enforcement officers in both of the other federal cases, would only say, "Every single case will rise or fall on its own merits."

There are at least four separate civil rights cases stemming from the Danziger Bridge incident.

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Well-Known Member

As a LEO, wichaka. I am interested in what you think about the link that zeezee has posted. The writer could have written it a little less confrontational in my opinion, but I do believe most of it was well written. And couldn't you of at least left me my pants?

Member

Posted by Father of Four: "They are blinded by their power. And they are backed by alot of the corrupt laws that are made by alot of our corrupt government."

The people keep voting in these lawmakers. Also, it is difficult to be blinded by the "power" with liberal judges and ignorant juries.

Posted by Father of Four: "They will if need be take away all of our guns and leave us to our own doom. The LEO's motto of today is something like... (I and fellow officers are going home tonight. Let the citizens and the bad guys perish. But make sure the Leo survives at all cost.)"

This is a bastardization of "I and fellow officers are going home tonight". I dont work with anybody that would disarm lawful citizens.

Posted by Father of Four: "Yeah the LEO's will come and help us citizens if needed but if they have a choice in taking away the citizens rights to own firearms to save a cops life?.. They would probably disarm all of us, leaving us all defenseless. Research, ask them and see for yourself. Its a shame!"

It is a shame you are so ignorant Father of Four, LEOs with few exceptions, are the strongest supporters of the Second Amendment in the NorthWest.

Father of Four it is ok to admit that you hate LEOs, we believe in the First Amendment also.

Member

Posted by Father of Four: "They are blinded by their power. And they are backed by alot of the corrupt laws that are made by alot of our corrupt government."

The people keep voting in these lawmakers. Also, it is difficult to be blinded by the "power" with liberal judges and ignorant juries.

Posted by Father of Four: "They will if need be take away all of our guns and leave us to our own doom. The LEO's motto of today is something like... (I and fellow officers are going home tonight. Let the citizens and the bad guys perish. But make sure the Leo survives at all cost.)"

This is a bastardization of "I and fellow officers are going home tonight". I dont work with anybody that would disarm lawful citizens.

Posted by Father of Four: "Yeah the LEO's will come and help us citizens if needed but if they have a choice in taking away the citizens rights to own firearms to save a cops life?.. They would probably disarm all of us, leaving us all defenseless. Research, ask them and see for yourself. Its a shame!"

It is a shame you are so ignorant Father of Four, LEOs with few exceptions, are the strongest supporters of the Second Amendment in the NorthWest.

Father of Four it is ok to admit that you hate LEOs, we believe in the First Amendment also.

Bruce.

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:bluelaugh: Good retort! :thumbup:

I'm not saying this is the case but it has been my personal experience that many people who claim to hate police are criminal in nature and have had bad experiences with police officers because they were on the wrong side of the law. Not always the case mind you but it has been my personal experience just the same. There are some bad ones out there that could have rubbed a honest law abiding citizen the wrong way but I personally haven't had a bad experiences in my few encounters with the police. They are generally respectful and polite in my experience.

Well-Known Member

Bruce, alot of laws are voted on and pushed threw without the citizens knowledge beforehand. The representatives don't really represent us now do they? As for hating cops..no I do not! But I do hate it when the ones who represent the law, are supposed to be up holding the law, write tickets and arrest people who break the law and turn around and break the laws themselves. And cover up for those who do the same!

Well-Known Member

Same here NK777. I do not have run ins with LEO's. But there are more and more LEO's getting into trouble for all sorts of stuff they usually arrest bad guys for. So are we to have that old mentality of " DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO?"

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